Both Salinas hospitals want trauma center designation

Both Salinas area hospitals will compete for permission to set up a trauma center capable of treating the most seriously injured patients at any hour of the day or night.

Officials from Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and Natividad Medical Center submitted a letter of intent and a $15,000 proposal fee by Feb. 8, the deadline set by the county Emergency Medical Services department for responding to a request for qualifications as part of the Level II trauma center designation process.

Salinas Valley Memorial, a public district hospital, and county-owned Natividad, will now vie for a formal designation as the county's first Level II trauma center by late next year. Only one of the two can earn the designation due to the county's population, and whichever emerges from the process is expected to begin formally offering the advanced level of care by January 2015.

A Level II trauma center must be able to provide round-the-clock access to essential medical specialists, including trauma surgeons, as well as trained staff and equipment.

Both hospitals have been considering pursuit of trauma center status for years, and have ramped up their efforts recently, especially in the wake of a series of civil grand jury reports that found the county was overdue for one. The hospitals even hired the same consultant, Bishop and Associates, to conduct a trauma center feasibility study a couple of years ago when the county began the designation process.

Since then, the two hospitals had requested a delay in the process while Salinas Valley Memorial officials considered a potential affiliation, including the possibility of merging with Natividad. Salinas Valley Memorial's board eventually decided to remain a stand-alone hospital.

Last year's civil grand jury called for starting the trauma center designation process without further delay, and county officials agreed.

Jim Griffith, chief operating officer at Salinas Valley Memorial, said the hospital already treats more than 400 Level II trauma patients per year and has the specialties in place to qualify for the designation.

Griffith said special trauma care oversight committees have also been set up, and the hospital is poised to launch a new Code Trauma program on March 1.

The hospital would only need an additional estimated $2 to $3 million in infrastructure and some supplemental additions to qualify as a trauma center, said Griffith, rather than the $10 to $20 million he said other hospitals would likely have to spend.

"It's not a big jump for us," Griffith said. "We already treat the sickest of the sick in Monterey County. We're ready for this."

While the county's trauma care plan, which set out the trauma center designation process, suggested Salinas Valley Memorial was more capable of establishing such a center, Natividad CEO Harry Weis previously rejected any notion that the county hospital couldn't compete.

In a statement on Monday, Weis said hospital officials are "actively evaluating and working on" the trauma center designation. "Any new program we start will be done with great excellence," he said in the statement, declining further comment until the "process matures a lot more."

Currently, most patients with major injuries are flown by helicopter to the nearest trauma centers in San Jose and Fresno. With a local trauma center, Griffith said, many more of those would stay in the county, and other nearby counties such as Santa Cruz and San Benito could also be expected to transport many of their injured to Salinas.

Griffith estimated about 1,000 patients would be treated at the new Salinas trauma center in its first year of operation.

The county's timeline said the two hospitals will have about six months to develop formal proposals for establishing the trauma centers and must submit their plans by Aug. 16.

An independent panel would then review the proposals through September and announce its choice by Oct. 1. A formal agreement would follow by Nov. 15, and the chosen hospital would need to invest in the staff, space and equipment needed to earn the designation. The hospital would then operate as a trauma center for about a year to gather data aimed at determining if it qualifies for state accreditation.

Formal trauma center designation would occur by Dec. 5 next year, and the new trauma system would be ready to go by Jan. 5, 2015.

If, for whatever reason, neither hospital was able to earn the designation, the civil grand jury called for establishing a local Level III trauma center, which would provide a lower level of care and likely require that some patients still be flown out of the area for treatment.

A Level III trauma center may not have full access to specialists, but is still required to provide 24-hour access to emergency resuscitation, surgery, and intensive care for most trauma patients.

County officials have estimated that process would take nearly two more years.